


Make Way For Kellys

by WritingToKeepMySanity



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Jack’s a stay-at-home dad, Kelly Kids, Like... tooth-rotting fluff, feeding the ducks, my duckling hc lives on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 17:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13551840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingToKeepMySanity/pseuds/WritingToKeepMySanity
Summary: Jack and Katherine take the kids to feed the ducks. Cuteness and rain follows.





	Make Way For Kellys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tuppenny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuppenny/gifts).



> Claire asked for ducks and I just couldn't say no ~~because I'm a pushover~~ (and I love her)
> 
> What was supposed to be a drabble spiraled and this was the result. Please enjoy!! <3

_“The ducklings liked the island so much that they decided to live there. All day long they follow the swan boats and eat peanuts. And when night falls, they swim to their little island and go to sleep.”_

Jack closed the book, looking down at his youngest. “What’d ya think, Lucy-girl?”

“I liked it!”

“Yeah? You like the ducklings?” Lucy nodded, and Jack looked down at Corey, who was lying under the coffee table, drawing what looked like a pond. “Corey, did ya like the story?”

Corey nodded, carefully tracing a bright yellow duck in the center of the page, its bill slightly larger than its head.

“What about you, Pete?” he asked his oldest, who was sitting across the room.

“That book’s for kids,” Pete said dismissively, flipping the page of his book of planets they got him from the planetarium.

Jack laughed, shifting Lucy on his lap. “Well, then, I guess just the _kids_ get to go to the park to feed the ducks.” It was gray out, and a bit drizzly, but they’d been cooped up inside almost all week with the rain, so Jack figured they could handle a little sprinkle in the short walk to the park.

Lucy turned to him with wide eyes, a grin splitting her face. “Can we, Daddy?”

“Yeah, we gotta a couple’a hours before Mama gets home. Whaddaya think, Corey? Pete? Wanna join us kids?”

Pete looked at Jack over the top of his book, grinning a little. “Yeah,” he said, closing his book. “I wanna feed the ducks.”

Smiling, Jack lifted Lucy off his lap. “Alright, go get ya rain jackets and boots on, and we’ll go to the park.”

Lucy and Corey chased each other down the hallway, Pete hurrying after them. Jack stood, setting the book back on the shelf. Going into the kitchen, he opened the pantry, searching a moment before pulling out a canister of oats.

He set it on the table, pulling his own jacket from the front closet and sliding his phone and keys in his pocket as feet pounded against the floor once more.

Predictably, it was Lucy with one boot on and her raincoat trailing behind her. 

“Daddy! Are we going to feed the ducks peanuts?” she asked, tripping as she slipped on the tiled floor in her one sock.

“Whoa! C’mere, lil miss,” Jack laughed, tugging at the sleeve of coat, turning her to him. Sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, and helping her straighten her jacket and get both feet in her boots, he said, “And we’re gonna feed ‘em oats.”

“Why oats?” Pete asked, entering the kitchen with Corey trailing behind him.

“That’s what’cha feed ducks. Oats, corn, peas…”

Corey leaned into Jack’s side. “How d’ya know so much about ducks, Dad?”

Jack shifted him so he could stand, all three kids zipped up and in their boots now. “In college, your uncles Davey and Charlie and I had ducklings for a couple’a weeks.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Can we—?”

“No.” Shaking his head, he led them out the front door and into the hallway. “Ducks are cute ta look at, an’ feed in the park, but they don’t make great pets, especially not indoor pets.”

“Oh,” Lucy hung her head a bit as they made their way towards the elevator.

Jack tapped her shoulder with the oats canister. “Wanna carry the oats, Luce?”

“Yeah!”

They made it to the elevator just as it dinged, signaling that it had arrived at their floor. The doors slid open to reveal…

“Mama!” Lucy squealed, launching herself at Kath.

“Wh—hey, guys!” she said, bending a little to hug Lucy, then Corey. “Where are you going?”

“We’re going to see the ducks,” Pete answered, ducking around Lucy to get on the elevator and giving his mother a hug.

Looking up at Jack and straightening, Katherine asked, “Ducks, huh? I—hope—we’ve already discussed that we will not be bringing any ducks home?”

Leaning over Corey to kiss his wife, Jack said, “Yeah, Ace. Already learned that lesson. We’re just feeding them. No pets.”

“Good,” she said with a slight smirk, kissing him again. “Well, it sounds like I picked a good day to leave work early.”

“Mama, you’re gonna come feed the ducks with us?” Lucy asked, clutching the oats to her chest. 

Smoothing back their daughter’s hair, Katherine nodded. “Yeah, is that okay?”

All three kids nodded quickly, eager to spend time with their mother. The last week or so, Katherine'd had to work late to finish her article. And while she always made sure to be there when they woke up and going to bed, the kids were missing her.

"Well, then," Katherine said, taking Lucy's hand. "Let's go feed the ducks."

 

*~*~*~*~* 

 

The pond was full of fluffy yellow ducklings, bobbing in the water, swimming and dipping their heads under water.

“Wow…” Lucy breathed, taking in the scene with wide eyes.

“That’s a lot of ducks,” Corey said, and Pete nodded in agreement. 

Crouching in front of them, Jack opened the canister of oats. “Hold out ya hands,” he instructed, and they did what he said, cupping their hands for him to pour the oats in their hands.

“Okay, now don’t throw it at the ducks, just toss it ta where they can get to it.”

“Mama, feed the ducks with me!” Lucy said, looking up at Katherine, who smiled.

“Alright, Lucy-girl. Let’s feed the ducks.” The two of them moved down the bank of the pond while the boys hung back with Jack.

Jack pointed at one of the ducks in front of them. “Whaddaya think about that one, Pete? What’s a good name for ‘im?”

Pete tossed out some of his oats, tilting his head as he thought. “He looks like a Dobby,” he finally said.

“Dobby the duck. I like it. Corey,” Jack pointed at another. “What ‘bout that one?”

“George. And that’s his friend Harold,” Corey said, pointing to another duck.

“Great names for ducks.” Handing them the rest of the oats, Jack followed them as they walked along the pond, feeding the ducks. They made their way down to Katherine and Lucy, where Lucy was naming her own ducks.

"—and Specs, and Romeo, and JoJo, and—"

"And she's naming the ducks after all her uncles," Katherine said to Jack with a wink.

He laughed, taking her hand to help her stand. "Well, there is no higher honor than havin' a duck named afta ya."

They fed the ducks until they ran out of oats, and Lucy wandered down the trail next to the pond a little ways. Over her shoulder, she yelled to them,  “Pete, Corey! Come look at this!”

Leaving Jack and Katherine beside the pond, her brothers ran towards her, and Lucy led them to the side of the trail, showing them something Jack couldn’t see.

“Don’t go too far ahead, kids! Stay where we can see you.” Katherine called to the kids. Brushing her hands off on her jeans, she slipped her arm through his, allowing the kids to go on ahead on the trail.

"So how did ya manage ta get off work early?" Jack asked as they followed the kids, who were running ahead, content to chase each other around the trail now that they’d had their fill of the ducks. "Thought ya had ta work late all week."

Shrugging, she answered, "Finished my article early, and Denton told me, under no uncertain terms, that I should take the rest of the day off. And who am I to refuse my boss, when I have three beautiful children and a wonderful husband to come home to?"

"Well," he turned slightly to press his lips to the side of her head. "We are all thankful to Mr. Denton for that."

They walked in silence for a moment, content to watch Pete, Lucy, and Corey ahead of them, before Katherine asked, “What were your ducks’ names again?” 

Tilting his head, Jack thought for a moment. “Crutchie’s was Puddles. Davey let us name his James Pond… and mine was Quackie Chan.”

She laughed, leaning into him as they walked. “I still can’t believe you got away with having ducks in your dorm.”

“Honestly, I don’t think any of us thought we’d make it a night, let alone two weeks,” Jack admitted.

“How did they find you out?” Katherine asked.

He started to answer when a fat rain drop hit his cheek, more following in quick succession. Looking up, he realized that the sky had darkened and the wind had picked up.

“Oh!” Katherine exclaimed in surprise, holding his arm tighter a moment before turning to call to the kids. “Pete! Corey! Lucy! Come on, time to go home!”

The kids ran back, splashing in the puddles quickly forming along the trail. Jack took Corey and Lucy's hands, and Kath wrapped an arm around Pete's shoulders. Then the five of them ran towards the street, getting soaked to the bone, but laughing the whole way

**Author's Note:**

> The book Jack's reading is "Make Way For Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey.
> 
> Dobby is from Harry Potter, and George and Harold are from Captain Underpants, which are Pete and Corey's favorite books, respectively. 
> 
> I post Newsies nonsense and Kelly Kid headcanons on tumblr. Come say hi! @wordshakerofgallifrey
> 
> Comments, concerns, and critiques welcome. Peace, love, and sanity!


End file.
